Days of Future Past - Part 2: Present Tense

by John Van Stry

I sat back a moment and thought about what he said, and then went and found a bush and did just that. Then coming back to where we were set up, I got out my canteen, some rations from my backpack and settled down to eat and drink. I hadn't realized just how thirsty and hungry I was. I looked at my watch; we'd been up here over two hours. I could hear the sounds of the approaching army this time, so I got my spare ammo arranged, laid back down in my firing position, and started looking for targets.

  This time I managed to down five of the officers before they realized what was going on. I think Heather got ten.

  The dwarven line opened fire before the attacking army got to the previous wall of dead bodies, and this time they started to use a couple of giant rubber slings, the same kind I'd used to launch water balloons on the American River, to launch grenades into the enemy lines.

  Too bad no one had thought to invent a portable mortar.

  This time when they sent up a group to try and encircle and flank us on the hills, they sent a large force. I ended up dropping my railgun and pulling out my gauss assault rifle, and burned through half of my ammunition, while Sarah and the other spell caster let go with some of the nastiest spells I'd ever seen in my life.

  Both were reduced to lying on the ground panting when they were done. But the attack had failed to the point where the hillside was now red as it was covered in so much blood.

  When I returned to my position, an elf was now using my rifle and was quickly racking up so many kills with it, that I didn't have the will to ask for it back. Instead I just started taking potshots with the gauss rifle down into the gap where they were advancing on the dwarves' position. They were more than close enough to be within range, and while the effect wasn't as great, I was still doing damage.

  The dwarves I noticed had fallen back to their second line of trenches and were still fighting off the enemy, but the enemy army had advanced to within twenty feet of the first trench.

  I watched as the enemy continued to struggle closer and closer, losing hundreds for every foot they gained, but they had thousands, tens of thousands, so the leaders kept pushing them on.

  When they spilled over the small parapet of the first trench I winced. But the dwarves below didn't seem too worried and continued fighting from their positions, making the enemy pay dearly for every foot. Within minutes there were hundreds of enemy fighters using the trench for cover and starting to move towards the next trench when suddenly a loud horn sounded. All of the dwarves down below suddenly hit the ground and both the dirt mound and the trench erupted in a huge explosion, causing me to flatten myself to the ground as well, as dirt and bodies were thrown everywhere.

  When I rose my head back up and looked down at the pass below, the dwarves were all cheering and all of the enemy, both in the trench and a good hundred feet back from it were dead.

  And even more surprising was at that moment, the elven cavalry rode down from where they had been bolstering us on the hills and the dwarves stood up and charged the enemy below, screaming and cheering as they did so.

  The dwarves fell on the front lines with a heavy crash, using their short swords and rifles as the elves rode into the flanks of the attacking army. I looked at the enemy spread out before us and back over the gathered ranks of them. I could see Riggs' army now. He was attacking them from behind, far back on the other side of the hundred or so thousand enemy that had to be down there. And I could see that he was trying to cut around them to the west, giving them the out of retreating to the east.

  I don't know if their leaders realized what was happening, or if they just broke and ran, heading for the area of least resistance. But it was like a giant flock of birds turning, at first it was just the edges, and then a current ran deep into the enemy, and suddenly, they all just broke and ran, with the dwarves and the elves chasing them, continuing to harass and attack them as they fled. Even Riggs' army gave chase for a good five minutes, until several horns started to ring out loudly again and all of our forces stopped following them and quickly returned to our position.

  I checked my rifle, put the safety on, and then went to reclaim my rifle from the elf that had been using it.

  "You sure you want it back?" she asked, looking a bit torn.

  "Yes."

  "But I'm so much better with it than you are," she said and smiled up at me, turning on the charm.

  "But I'm so much better with it, than without it," I said and tried not to roll my eyes.

  "Tell you what; I'll trade you my husband for it!"

  "What would I want with your husband?" I looked at her, not sure if she was joking or not.

  "Well, he's very good, and kind of cute."

  "I have two wives; I don't need your husband getting in the way."

  "Two? Then I'm sure you could use a little help?" she asked hopefully, still looking at my railgun with the kinds of looks that I'd seen Heather giving hers.

  "If I wasn't good enough to handle the two of them already, then I wouldn't have won them, now would I?" I sighed and held out my hand.

  "Spoilsport," she grumbled and handing me my railgun, she picked up her own rifle and went off to join the other elves.

  I sat down by Heather and Sarah, Sarah was drinking and eating, obviously famished and looked rather drained. Nobody really wanted to do anything more than just lay wherever they were and relax, incase the enemy came back and we had to do another round of fighting. I checked my ammunition for my rail gun. I'd have to see if I could raid Riggs' supply, I was down to just three magazines worth.

  "What was that all about?" Heather asked, motioning to where I had been talking with the elf.

  "Oh, she just wanted to trade me her husband for my rifle," I said and then shook my head. "I'm not sure that she was joking either."

  Heather smirked at me, "Was he cute at least?"

  "You want him; you can trade your own rifle."

  "Umm, No," she said with a laugh.

  We broke our rifles down then and started to clean them before putting them away, and just let the stress of the day start to unwind while waiting for the commanders to tell us what was next.

  Maybe fifteen minutes later the word came down to hold our positions and to avert our eyes from the direction of the retreating army, which had vanished from sight a good twenty minutes ago.

  "Keep our eyes averted?" Heather said looking around, and it hit me.

  "Everyone!" I yelled standing up, "Get down in your fox holes, close your eyes and don't look! You'll be blinded!" and I pushed Sarah and Heather into my trench.

  "What is going on, Paul?" Sarah demanded. I noticed everyone else on the ridge had taken my advice, and from what I could see of the ridge on the other side of the pass, someone must have passed them the same advice over one of their magical radios.

  "Riggs has more of those nukes that I used." I told them, and just as I said it, the first one went off, followed immediately by a second and a third. I don't know why he used three; maybe he wasn't sure where the enemy would be when he planted them. But it made sense, funnel them into an area that had been left unguarded, someplace you could have someone sneak in, in advance, and then take the enemy army out when they retreated through there.

  When the shockwave hit us, it was a hard blast of wind, I hadn't been looking in the direction of the flash, but I suspected that the terrain had blocked us from the worst of it. I was also fairly certain that the bombs had been placed several miles away from us, so we were well out of the primary destruction zone.

  After the initial shockwave, the wind suddenly reversed and began to blow back in the direction of the blasts, a bit fast at first, but it quickly settled down into a steady breeze. Getting up from my position on top of the girls, I turned and looked at the three mushroom clouds that were climbing high up into the sky, an angry red glow in the head of each cloud.

  Something hit me on the back of the head, and I turned to see Heather rubbing her hand.

  "What was that for?" I asked confused.

  "
We spent weeks walking around with you carrying that on your back?" she said, glaring at me.

  "It couldn't have gone off by accident," I sighed, "trust me; those things were built to be safe. Everyone always worried about accidents."

  "Still," Sarah said, "seeing it does put the fear of the gods in one, does it not?"

  I nodded and gave each of them a hug.

  "Yeah, and I almost got to be vaporized by one," I mumbled.

  Heather blushed and leaned over and kissed me then. "Sorry, I forgot. You're forgiven."

  - 18 -

  "That Chosen, he sure does play for keeps, doesn't he, Paul?" Hakk said as we set up camp.

  "Trust me, I know," I agreed trying to hide any sarcasm. "At least he's not picking on me anymore," I joked. "So how long before we move north and attack Reno?"

  "Not tomorrow, that's for sure. The men need at least a day to recover and prepare."

  "Won't that give the enemy more time to get ready for us?" I asked.

  Hakk laughed, "They've been in Reno for years now. They can't be anymore ready for us. No, this is a fight that will take some time."

  I shook my head, "I'm sure Riggs has something up his sleeve for this one too."

  "Up his sleeve?" Hakk looked at me curious.

  "Old human expression; it means he has something sneaky planned."

  "Ah, yes he definitely does seem to be full of surprises, as well as solid military planning. A most deadly combination."

  "I'm going to have to go over to his supply train and see if I can get some more ammunition." I sighed; I wasn't looking forward to that trip.

  "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that. He's asked me to bring you to our planning meeting tomorrow."

  I felt my heart skip a beat and I almost tripped.

  "Something wrong?" Hakk asked.

  "He's going to try and kill me again!" I groaned.

  "Oh, I wouldn't worry so much, Paul. He obviously has great respect for your abilities. You did destroy the dragon isle for him after all. So of course he is going to need your help for his most difficult challenges!" Hakk laughed and clapped me on the back, almost knocking me over.

  "You should be proud!"

  "I'd rather be home in bed making the next generation," I grumbled.

  "Ah! You will always have time for that, but you will not always have the opportunities for making stories of such heroism that your children will all be thrilled to hear you recount them in the years to come."

  "If it's all the same to you, I think I already have enough stories."

  Hakk laughed and handed me a beer. Honestly, I had no idea where it came from, but we'd just had a big victory, and it was a dwarven camp, so I should have expected it.

  I took a long drink and decided that it was time to find the girls, set up our tent, and spend the night making some noise of our own.

  I woke early; the girls were both out like lights, snuggled up against each other. I untangled myself and stretched, yawning. Something about surviving combat always seemed to lead to the best sex afterwards.

  Of course knowing there was more in front of you, also added a little something to the act as well, because you wondered if it might be your last time with those you loved.

  I grabbed my clothes and headed out to the latrines to relieve myself and clean up. After that I then gathered up my new backpack, made sure I had my knives and pistols, then slung my gauss rifle and decided to go try my luck at restocking on our ammo.

  What I'd taken from the armory had been about twice what I figured we'd need for a simple mission and returning from it. I hadn't expected for us to actually get involved in any battles in this war.

  But we'd left tons of ammunition behind, even with what Jack had packed into the wagons and taken. So I was sure they should have enough to spare a few dozen magazines to replace what we'd used up yesterday.

  Especially if they expected us to keep fighting with them.

  When I got to the Navajo camp, I was immediately passed in by the guards. They didn't even challenge me. In fact, everyone seemed to be going out of their way for me. To the extent that everyone was staying as far away from me as possible, if not flat out leaving the area.

  "Where can I get more ammo?" I asked one of them before he could get too far away as I surveyed the camp.

  "That way!" he pointed, while very quickly heading in the other direction.

  "Well that was curious," I muttered and headed in the direction he had pointed.

  By the time I found the wagons with the ammunition stores, I was started to feel a little creeped out by everyone's behavior. More than once I saw people whispering to each other and one of them would then nod at me causing the other's eyes would get wide and they'd quickly head off in another direction.

  "I need to resupply my ammo," I said to the Navajo who was tending the wagon, when I finally found the right one.

  He raised his hands, "Help yourself," he said and giving a small bow he backed off looking just a little concerned.

  I just shook my head and quickly took what I needed to replace what we'd all used yesterday, plus some extra to make up for what we'd probably use tomorrow. I wasn't sure I was going to be coming back here again if they were going to act this strange around me.

  "Paul!" I heard, and quickly turning around I gave a sigh of relief when I saw Atsida striding towards me, he had Hayoi and Atsa with him. None of them seemed to be all that worried or bothered by me.

  "Atsida," I smiled, "It is good to see a friendly face here for a change."

  Atsida laughed, and took my arm. "It is good to see you as well. We heard you were with the dwarves! There have been some rumors as to where you went and what you did after you left us."

  "Been talking with the dwarves, have you?" I grinned.

  "They do have the best beer," Hayoi said with a smirk, "though I am not sure I like their women."

  "They do seem to like you, however," Atsida joked and Hayoi actually blushed. Both the dwarves' and the elves' armies were mixed gender. The Indian army was not however.

  "So," I asked looking around and lowering my voice as I slung my now full pack and we moved away from the wagons, "why is everyone avoiding me?"

  "Because of Coyote," Atsida said.

  "Coyote?" I said surprised. "What does he have to do with it?"

  "People fear Coyote, Paul. He plays tricks on the unsuspecting, brings down those with too much pride and makes examples of those who cross him."

  Atsa nodded, "It is also said that at times he will pick on you for no reason at all, simply to remind people that he is to be respected."

  I looked at the three of them; they were all looking at me very seriously.

  "And what has this to do with me?"

  "Coyote has marked you as his own, Paul. We all saw what happened, you disgraced Tse, you exposed him and the coyotes all sang his shame. The Chosen was even going to exile him from the army; it would have brought an even greater shame on his father and his family."

  I couldn't feel sorry for Tse, or his family. The people he'd poisoned may have been slaves, but they didn't deserve to die like that. Then there was his treatment of me and his use of poison during our fight. Tse was a dishonorable little shit. But I held my tongue.

  "So what happened to him, if Riggs didn't exile him?" I asked instead.

  "The Chosen set him a task, one of sacrifice, one that would redeem his honor and the honor of his father, his family. One that would take great courage."

  "Oh? Which task was that?"

  "He was the one who set off the weapons of the ancients yesterday, Paul."

  "Oh," was all I could think of to say. Maybe I should have felt sad that he had been forced to kill himself, but I didn't. I was sure that a lot of people on our side had died yesterday, he was just another one. One that at least had deserved it and whom many wouldn't miss.

  But it also said something about Riggs; he used Tse, rather adroitly and probably without the slightest bit of remorse. Even if Tse had de
served it, it still said something about Riggs who I was learning could be completely ruthless in achieving his goals.

  Then again, was that a bad thing? While I might not like it, especially as it often involved me personally, there was a war on and there was no such thing as second place. This world was full of ruthless people, but then had the world I came from been any different? I didn't think so anymore.

  "So, everyone is afraid that if they get involved with me, Coyote might single them out next?"

  The three of them nodded.

  "Yes, that is what they fear."

  "Well, I can't say I blame them. It hasn't been all that much fun for me either."

  Atsida laughed, "True, but you are still here, Paul. People remember that as a slave you never argued, never complained, simply did what was asked of you."

  "And?"

  "And they lie awake trying to figure out just what someone like you must have done to be singled out by him."

  I had to laugh at that. "So let me get this straight, they're not just afraid of Coyote noticing them, but they're also afraid that whatever it was that earned me his interest might drag them down as well?"

  He smiled, "You see to the heart of it."

  "Well I wouldn't worry so much about it if I was them. Where's Nitl'ah?" I asked looking around, "Usually the four of you are together."

  Atsida sighed heavily, "He died in the fighting yesterday."

  I noticed then that the three of them all looked a little worse for wear, their clothing was tattered in spots, and they had fresh scars as well as a few scabs from cuts that were probably too small for the healers to waste their magic on.

  "I'm sorry to hear that, he was a good man."

  "It is sad that he died, but he died with honor, we are all proud to have called him our friend."

  I nodded my agreement. "Well, I need to get back to my tent. Besides, I wouldn't want the three of you to pick up any of my bad reputation."

  They all grinned, "Take care of yourself, Paul."

  "You too," I smiled and waved to them, then quickly made my way back to the tent and the girls. At least no one would ever view me as a slave again!